2d and 3d transitions for renderings of users participating in communication sessions

ABSTRACT

Systems for transitioning a user interface arrangement from a display of a two-dimensional image of a user to a rendering of a three-dimensional representation of the user is provided. A system can start with a UI including a rendering of a user that is based on a 2D image file. The system can receive an input that is configured to cause the system to transition the display of the rendering of the 2D image of the select user to a rendering of the three-dimensional representation of the select user. To display the rendering of the 3D representation of the select user, the system uses permission data and a three-dimensional model defining a position and orientation to display the 3D representation of the user. The system allows users to switch between viewing modes to allow users to interact with content using the most effective type of hardware.

BACKGROUND

The use of meta-verse environments for on-line meeting applications isbecoming ubiquitous. Participants of online meetings now meet inthree-dimensional virtual environments and share content within thosevirtual environments. Despite a number of benefits over other forms ofcollaboration, the use of 3D environments for sharing content can raisea number of drawbacks.

One of the main issues with using meta-verse environments for on-linemeeting applications is that there may be scenarios where not allparticipants of a meeting have the same type of equipment. For example,some participants may be operating a PC while other participants may beoperating a VR headset. This scenario may be due to the availability ofhardware, while in other situations, users may have different types ofequipment based on personal preferences. Personal preferences of thetypes of hardware may be based on the capabilities of each type ofdevice. Some types of computers, such as desktop devices, are better forcertain roles and meeting functions, such as editing content. In suchcases, it may be better for some people to be engaged in a meta-verseenvironment meeting while using a desktop computer, while other usersthat are consuming the content may be using a head-mounted displaydevice.

In some cases, the desktop device users are at a disadvantage becausethey cannot navigate or interact with all of the users in the virtualenvironment. When a computer provides a 2D view of a 3D environment,that computer is limited in how it can receive input gestures for usersto navigate or interact with the 3D environment. Given these issuesinvolving different types of devices and different types ofenvironments, current technologies do not give the VR headset users andthe PC users the same experience. Moreover, even if a user wanted totransition from a VR headset to a desktop device, or vice versa, someexisting systems may not always provide seamless transitions duringevents such as a gathering or company meeting.

SUMMARY

The techniques disclosed herein enable systems to transition a userinterface arrangement from a display of a two-dimensional image of auser to a rendering of a three-dimensional representation of the userwhile the user is participating in a communication session, such as ameeting. In some configurations, a select user can start in a gallerymode, where a rendering of the user is based on data received from animage file or a live video of the user. In some configurations, theselect user can be displayed in a user interface displaying other usersthat are participating in a meeting. The other users can be displayed as2D renderings from images or live video streams. The other users canalso be displayed as 3D representations, e.g., avatars, positionedwithin a 3D environment. The system can receive an input that isconfigured to cause the system to transition the display of therendering of the two-dimensional image of the select user to a renderingof the three-dimensional representation of the select user. To displaythe rendering of the 3D representation of the select user, the systemaccesses a three-dimensional model defining a position and orientationof the three-dimensional representation of the select user within a 3Denvironment. The 3D environment can be a model of a conference room, inwhich 3D representations of the users are positioned. The input caninclude a voice command, a key input, or another type of input gesture.In some embodiments, the input can indicate that the user is operatingwith a particular device type, such as a desktop PC, and based on thatdevice type, the system may cause the transition. In response to theinput for causing the transition of the display of the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image of the user to the rendering of thethree-dimensional representation of the user, the system can modify ofthe user interface arrangement to remove the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image of the user and add the display of thethree-dimensional representation of the user in a rendering of the 3Denvironment. This transition can cause the system to use the positionand the orientation defined in the three-dimensional model to place theuser's avatar in the 3D environment.

The techniques disclosure in provide a number of technical benefits. Forinstance, when a system detects that a user is operating a desktopcomputer, some systems may cause a display of a 2D image of that user.This may be due to the fact that a desktop computer and a desktop cameramaybe more suitable for displaying a 2D image of that user. However, ifthat user wishes to participate in a meeting using a 3D representation,e.g., an avatar in a 3D environment, the techniques disclosure in allowthat user to make that transition using a desktop computer withoutswitching to a headset. The techniques disclosed herein also change theoperating mode of the computer to allow the user to navigate within the3D environment using keyboard controls. This allows users to interactwith a computer in a 3D environment while utilizing certain types ofcomputers such as desktop devices to access specialized editing toolsthat are optimized for certain 3D models.

Features and technical benefits other than those explicitly describedabove will be apparent from a reading of the following DetailedDescription and a review of the associated drawings. This Summary isprovided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form thatare further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary isnot intended to identify key or essential features of the claimedsubject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determiningthe scope of the claimed subject matter. The term “techniques,” forinstance, may refer to system(s), method(s), computer-readableinstructions, module(s), algorithms, hardware logic, and/or operation(s)as permitted by the context described above and throughout the document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Detailed Description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Thesame reference numbers in different figures indicate similar oridentical items. References made to individual items of a plurality ofitems can use a reference number with a letter of a sequence of lettersto refer to each individual item. Generic references to the items mayuse the specific reference number without the sequence of letters.

FIG. 1A illustrates a first stage of a transition of a user interfacefor a desktop display device, where the transition starts with a displayof a two-dimensional image of a user and changes to a rendering of athree-dimensional representation of the user while the user isparticipating in a communication session.

FIG. 1B illustrates a second stage of a transition of a user interfacefrom a display of a two-dimensional image of a user to a rendering of athree-dimensional representation of the user while the user isparticipating in a communication session.

FIG. 2A illustrates a first stage of a transition of a user interfacefor a head-mounted display device, where the transition starts with adisplay of a two-dimensional image of a user and changes to a renderingof a three-dimensional representation of the user while the user isparticipating in a communication session.

FIG. 2B illustrates a second stage of a transition of a user interfacefrom a display of a two-dimensional image of a user to a rendering of athree-dimensional representation of the user while the user isparticipating in a communication session.

FIG. 3A illustrates the first user interface arrangement for aparticular user identified in a user interface.

FIG. 3B illustrates the second user interface arrangement for aparticular user identified in a user interface.

FIG. 4A illustrates additional features of the UI transition.

FIG. 4B illustrates two operating modes of a system and how eachoperating mode changes permissions for displaying individualsparticipating in a communication session.

FIG. 5A illustrates a scenario where avatars for a first user and asecond user are oriented such that the users are looking at a virtualdisplay of content within the virtual environment.

FIG. 5B illustrates a scenario where an avatar for a newly added user toa communication session is positioned and oriented based on existinguser's avatars looking at a virtual display of content within thevirtual environment.

FIG. 6A illustrates a scenario where avatars for a first user and asecond user are oriented such that the users are looking at each otherwithin the virtual environment.

FIG. 6B illustrates a scenario where an avatar for a newly added user toa communication session is positioned and oriented based on existinguser's avatars looking at each other within the virtual environment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a routine that enablessystems to transition a user interface arrangement from a display of atwo-dimensional image of a user to a rendering of a three-dimensionalrepresentation of the user while the user is participating in acommunication session.

FIG. 8 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating an illustrativecomputer hardware and software architecture for a computing systemcapable of implementing aspects of the techniques and technologiespresented herein.

FIG. 9 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating a computingdevice architecture for a computing device capable of implementingaspects of the techniques and technologies presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example of a transition of a userinterface arrangement from a display of a two-dimensional image of auser to a rendering of a three-dimensional representation of the userwhile the user is participating in a communication session. Thecommunication session can be managed by a system 100 comprising a numberof computers 11 each corresponding to a number of users 10. Thecomputers can be in the form of desktop computers, head-mounted displayunits, tablets, mobile phones, etc. The system can generate a userinterface showing aspects of the communication session to each of theusers. In this example, a user interface 101 can include a number ofrenderings of each user 10. The renderings can include renderings oftwo-dimensional (2D) images, which can include a picture or live videofeed of a user. The renderings can also include renderings of thethree-dimensional (3D) representations, which can include avatarspositioned within a 3D virtual environment 200. In this particularexample, the user interface 101 includes a 2D rendering 151A of a firstuser 10A, a 2D rendering 151B of a second user 10B, and a 2D rendering151A of a first user 10C. The user interface 101 also includes a 3Drendering of a representation 251D of a fourth user 10D and another 3Drendering of a representation 251E of a fifth user 10E.

In this example, the rendering of the third user 10C will undergo atransition from the 2D mode where they are shown as a rendering of a 2Dimage, to a 3D mode where they are represented as a 3D object in a 3Denvironment. To illustrate aspects of this transition, the userinterface 101 shown in FIG. 1A can be a user interface that is displayedon a computing device of other users, such as the first computer 11Awhich is associated with the first user 10A, or any other user otherthan the third user 10C. This shows the perspective to others whathappens when the third user 10C makes a transition from 2D mode to 3Dmode. This example is provided for illustrative purposes and is not tobe construed as limiting. It can be appreciated that this example UI canbe displayed on any computing device of any of the users participatingin the communication session.

To start the transition, the system can receive an input for causing thetransition of the display of the rendering of the two-dimensional imageof a particular user. In this example, the input identifies the thirduser 10C. The input can also provide permission that allow the system toaccess a 3D model defining a position and orientation for athree-dimensional representation of the third user 10C. The position andorientation can include vectors and coordinates for the representationwithin the 3D environment 200, Which is also referred to herein as avirtual environment 200.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, in response to receiving the input, one ormore computers of the system 100 can cause a modification of the userinterface 101 to remove the rendering of the image 151C of the user 10Cas shown in FIG. 1A, and add a rendering of a 3D representation 251C ofthe user 10C as shown in FIG. 1B. The rendering of the 3D representation251C of the user 10C can be positioned and oriented within the 3Denvironment according to coordinates and/or vectors defined in the 3Dmodel.

In this example, the removal of the rendering of the 2D image of theuser 10C, can be replaced with other renderings. For example, the 2Dimage rendering of the third user 10C shown in FIG. 1A is replaced inthe UI with another 2D image of another user, the fourth user 10D asshown in FIG. 1B. This transition, otherwise referred to herein as ateleportation, enables a particular user, such as the third user 10C, totransition the display of how they appear to other users of thecommunication session. In addition, this transition enables that user tointeract with a computing device using a different mode. For instance,in this example, if the select user 10C wishes to transition from a livevideo stream in the communication session to another operating modeallowing that user to interact with other users in a 3D environment, thesystem transitions that user from one mode that allows them to interactwith general content, documents, spreadsheets, and slide decks, toanother mode that allows them to interact with 3D objects. Thistransition during a communication session allows the select user to useediting tools in each environment that is appropriate for differentcontent types. For instance, if a person in a video stream wishes toleave a 2D mode that shows that user using a 2D image, and enter a 3Denvironment to show other users how to move an object in a specificlocation or to shape a particular 3D object, that user can do that moreeasily once they are able to make the transition within thecommunication session. That user, such as the third user 10C, CharlotteSmith, can make this transition using a desktop PC, without using anytype of virtual reality or augmented reality headset, such as an HMD. Asdescribed herein, this transition using a desktop enables a user, suchas the third user, to enter a 3D mode interacting with a 3D computingenvironment using a desktop computer, which may be more suitable forediting or viewing certain types of content.

The techniques disclosed herein also offer tools that are counterintuitive to other systems. For instance, even if a user is operating ona desktop computer, they can transition into a 3D environment withoutthe use of a VR headset. this is counter intuitive to embodiments thatrequire a user to put on the headset to enter a 3D environment. Thisenables the user to benefit from the accuracy of a PC, such as a mouseand a keyboard while also working in a 3D environment interacting with3D objects. The user can benefit from gestures of a mouse to moveobjects, while using directional keys to navigate through the 3Denvironment.

Specific types of inputs, which can be computer generated or caused by auser input, can cause the transitions described herein. For instance, auser input such as a voice command, key input or other gesture can beused to invoke the transitions described herein. In addition, an inputindicating that a remote user wants to share content with a select usercan also invoke the transitions described herein. In a specific example,consider a scenario where the second user 10B shares a 3D file, such asan AutoCAD file, with the third user 10C. If this input is receivedwhile the second user is interacting with a computer via a 3Denvironment, and the third user is not interacting with a computer viathe 3D environment, such an input received in that scenario can invokethe transitions described herein. In yet another embodiment, if thisinput is received from the second user while the second user isinteracting with a computer via a 3D environment, and the third user ison a desktop computer and not interacting with the computer using arendering of the 3D environment, such an input received in that scenariocan invoke the transitions described herein. This can be counterintuitive relative to other systems in that the third user may betransitioned to a 3D environment even though that person is operating ona desktop computer and not using a head-mounted display (HMD) unit.

One of the technical advantages is that the system can allow a user toswitch between a 3D mode and a 2D mode of a communication sessionRegardless of the hardware they are interacting with. That way, a personthat is interacting with a specific type of content, such as a 3D modelor AutoCAD file, using software that is best suited for a desktopcomputer using a mouse and a keyboard, that person can use a computerwhile also Interacting with content in a 3D environment. This is counterintuitive to existing systems in that those systems require a headset tointeract with a 3D environment. When a user is utilizing a desktopcomputer or a device in communication with a keyboard and pointingdevice, such as a mouse, the system may allocate specific gestures thatmay be captured by a camera or special keys to allow the user tonavigate throughout the 3D environment. This way, a traditional computersuch as a desktop device, can allow the user to access the pointingdevice to make accurate movements to interact with an AutoCAD file,while also providing special keys or and then put device such as acamera to allow the user to navigate through a 3D environment.

The disclosed techniques provide a technical benefit where a user of apersonal computer can change of their representation, e.g., how theyappear to others, and also change how that user sees others from a givenperspective, e.g., how others appear to the user, while maintainingoperation of a single device, such as a desktop computer. In suchscenarios, a user can maintain use of only one computing device, such asa desktop computer, while transferring from a 2D computing environmentto a 3D computing environment. Thus, a user can start in a 2D computingenvironment and be represented by a rendering of a 2D image 151C, suchas the representation shown in FIG. 1A. Then, in response to one or moreinputs, such as a user starting to edit content having a particular filetype, or based on an input indicating an instruction to perform a UItransition, the system can transition the UI to remove the rendering ofthe 2D image 151C, as shown in FIG. 1A, and generate a rendering of a 3Drepresentation 251C of the user, such as the representation shown inFIG. 1B. This allows a user to make a transition to a 3D environmentwithout actually utilizing an augmented reality or virtual reality(AR/VR) device.

The techniques also apply to other types of devices, such as ahead-mounted display device. In such embodiments, a user can maintainuse of only one computing device, such as a HMD, while transitioning aninteraction model from a 3D computing environment to a 2D computingenvironment. Thus, a user can start in a 3D computing environment and berepresented by a rendering of a 3D representation 251C, such as therepresentation shown in FIG. 1B. Then, in response to one or moreinputs, such as a user starting to edit content having a particular filetype or based on an input indicating an intent to perform a UItransition, the system can transition the UI to remove the rendering ofthe 3D representation 251C, as shown in FIG. 1B, and generate arendering of a 2D image 151C of the user, such as the representationshown in FIG. 1A. This allows a user to make a transition to a 2Denvironment without actually utilizing a desktop device that utilizes aflat screen display and a keyboard.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate another example of a transition of a userinterface from having a display of a two-dimensional image of a user toa rendering of a three-dimensional representation of the user while theuser is participating in a communication session. In this example, theuser interface 201 is a rendering of a 3D environment based on a 3Dmodel. In this example, the user interface 201 starts with a 3Drendering of a representation 251A of a first user 10A and a 3Drendering of a representation 251B of a second user 10B. The 3Drenderings of each representation have a position and a direction thatis determined by virtual object attributes stored in a 3D model. In thisexample, the 3D environment also includes a virtual object 275 that isin the form of a virtual flat screen TV mounted on the wall of thevirtual environment. This virtual object 275 has a display surface thatshows a virtual user interface that displays a 2D rendering 151C of thethird user 10C and a 2D rendering 151D of the fourth user 10D. In thisexample, the system receives an input that identifies a user, which forillustrative purposes is the third user 10C associated with therendering 151C of the 2D image.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, in response to the input for causing thetransition of the display of a rendering of the 2D image of the user 10Cto a rendering of a three-dimensional representation of the user 10C,the system modifies of the user interface arrangement 201 to remove therendering 151D of the 2D image of the user 10C and add the display ofthe three-dimensional representation 251C of the user in a rendering ofthe 3D environment 200. This transition can cause the system to use aposition and orientation data defined in a 3D model to place the user'savatar in the 3D environment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate another aspect of the transition of the thirduser 10C, Charlotte Smith. These figures show a user interface 301 fromthe prospective of Charlotte's computer. These figures specifically showthe user experience from Charlotte's perspective, e.g., how thetransition appears to the third user that is being teleported from the2D mode to the 3D mode. In this example, the rendering of the third user10C undergoes a transition from the 2D mode, where they are displayed toothers as a rendering of a 2D image, to a 3D mode, where they arerepresented to others as a 3D object in a 3D environment. To illustrateaspects of this transition from the third user's perspective, the userinterface 301 shown in FIG. 3A is a user interface that is displayed ona computing device 11C of the third user 10C, Charlotte Smith. Thisshows the perspective to the third user what happens when the third user10C makes a transition from 2D mode to 3D mode.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the user interface 301 starts with a display of 2Dimages of Jazmine, Lawrence and Mike, each respectively displayed asrenderings of images 151A, 151B, and 151D. This user interface alsoincludes a rendering of a 3D environment 200 that has two 3Drepresentations 251A and 251B of other users. In response to the inputdata described herein, e.g., the third user editing a certain type ofdata or one or more users indicating in a voice or text chat that thethird user is to transition to a 3D mode, the system performs thetransition. In the transition of the third user, the third computer 11Cof the third user 10C, transitions from the user interface shown in FIG.3A to the user interface shown in FIG. 3B.

As shown in FIG. 3B, after the transition, Charlotte's computer,computer 11C, displays a modified user interface 301 having an enlargedrendering of the 3D environment 200 which includes two 3Drepresentations 251A and 251B of two other users. The system maintainsthe state of each user, e.g., the two users displayed in FIG. 3A as 3Drepresentations 251A and 251B, is also maintained as 3D representations251A and 251B in FIG. 3B. Also shown in FIG. 3B, the modified userinterface 301 also includes a virtual object 275, which in this exampleis a virtual display device, that shows the 2D renderings of the otherusers that were originally displayed in 2D images, e.g., Jazmine andLawrence, in FIG. 3A. This modified user interface 301 now showsCharlotte's perspective as if she has teleported into a 3D environmentfrom the 2D environment. Similar to the other examples, in thisteleportation, the system can also determine a position and orientationfor Charlotte's avatar based on one or more factors. In this example,the orientation and position of Charlotte's avatar has her facing sharedcontent, e.g., the virtual display monitor and in a position at avirtual chair.

In such an example, Charlotte may be operating a single device, such asa PC, where she starts by viewing the meeting 2D mode, e.g., herperspective is not in the 3D environment. Then, in response to one ormore inputs described herein, the system may transition from the userinterface of FIG. 3A to the user interface of FIG. 3B all while shecontinues to use the desktop PC. The transition of this example canoccur even without the use of a computer that is traditionally used toview 3D renderings, such as a HMD.

In another example, a transition can also involve a process whereCharlotte starts with the user interface of FIG. 3B and transitions tothe user interface of FIG. 3A. In such an example, Charlotte may beoperating a single device, such as a head mounted display, where shestarts by viewing the 3D environment shown in FIG. 3B. Then, in responseto one or more inputs described herein, the system may transition fromthe user interface of FIG. 3B to the user interface of FIG. 3A, allwhile she continues to use the HMD. The transition of this example canoccur even without the use of a computer that is traditionally used toview 2D images, such as a desktop.

As can be applied to the other examples described herein, in someembodiments, the transition that occurs on Charlotte's image is executedwhile maintaining the rendering types for other users. For instance, inthe example of FIG. 3A, the user named Jazmine, is first displayed as a2D rendering in FIG. 3A, and then after the transition for the thirduser, Charlotte, Jazmine is maintained as a 2D rendering in FIG. 3B.This also applies to the other users that are initially displayed as 3Drenderings as shown in FIG. 3A. After Charlotte's transition, theseusers remain as 3D renderings as shown in FIG. 3B. This system controlsthe display of other users to minimize the distraction that may becaused by simultaneous transitions of multiple users.

FIG. 4A illustrates additional features of the UI transition. In someembodiments, when an input is received for causing the UI transitionfrom a rendering of the 2D image of the user 10C to a rendering of a 3Drepresentation of the user 10C, the system can determine a location andorientation for the 3D representation of the user 10C. For instance, ifa model of a virtual environment 200 starts with only two virtualobjects 351A and 351B representing users, the system can determine alocation and orientation of a newly added virtual object 351Crepresenting a user. In this example, when an input indicates that aparticular user, such as the third user 10C, the system can determine alocation and orientation of the virtual object 351C representing thethird user 10C based on the location of other users and/or the locationof shared content within the virtual environment 200.

In one illustrative example, if the system determines that that avirtual object 351C used to represent the third user 10C is to be addedto the virtual environment 200, the system can position the virtualobject 351C in a way such that the virtual object 351C gives theappearance that the user's avatar is looking at content that is sharedwith the user 10C. In another example, if the system determines thatthat a virtual object 351C used to represent the third user 10C is to beadded to the virtual environment 200, the system can position thevirtual object 351C in a way such that the virtual object 351C gives theappearance that the user's avatar is looking at avatars of user's thatare talking to the user 10C. As described herein, the system positionsthe person's avatar such that the avatar does not block other user'sfrom viewing content and/or the system positions the person's avatar isdirected toward salient information being shared within the virtualenvironment.

In some embodiments, placement of each virtual object 351 can be basedon distribution of team members, user groups, and/or policiesestablished by individual users or groups of users. For instance, if aperson is part of a team within a corporation, when one of thoseindividuals is identified in an input for transitioning the userinterface, their corresponding avatar will be positioned within athreshold distance of other team members. The orientation of that user'savatar can be based on an analysis of the orientation of the avatars oftheir team members. For instance, if a threshold number of users withina team are looking at content, that user's avatar entering a 3Denvironment can be oriented to look at the content as well. The systemcan also configure permissions. For instance, when a particular user'savatar enters a 3D environment, and a threshold number of teammates arelooking at content, the system may also provide access permissions forallowing that user to access that content. When the user leaves the 3Denvironment, that access can be revoked. A person's permissions may alsomirror the permissions of other people in the 3D environment. Forinstance if other users of a team are able to edit content, a user onthat team may also get editing rights for the time that they have anavatar in the 3D environment.

FIG. 4A also shows aspects of a system configured to implement thetechniques disclosed herein. For illustrative purposes, a rendering of a2D image file or a rendering of a 2D image of a user can be generated bya 2D rendering engine 551 receiving 2D image data 310, e.g., an imagefile. A rendering of a 2D image file can include a 2D environment, e.g.,the background of an image, and a 2D object, e.g., an image of a personor an avatar. The image file, e.g., image data 310, can have pixelsarranged in two dimensions, e.g., pixels arranged within atwo-dimensional coordinate system (x, y). This data can also be referredto herein as a two-dimensional model that is based on a two-dimensionalcoordinate system. Each part of an image can be a pixel or any othergeometric shape, such as a triangle. For instance, a group of pixels ortriangles can be used to generate a rendering of a two-dimensionalavatar of a user, or a live video image of a person.

A two-dimensional environment having a number of 2D images ofparticipants of a communication session is also referred to herein as a“grid environment.” Image data or a communication data stream can definea two-dimensional environment or a two-dimensional object, and thattwo-dimensional environment can be rendered on a display screen. Therendering can be referred to herein as a two-dimensional rendering of atwo-dimensional environment or a two-dimensional rendering of atwo-dimensional object. This is also referred to herein as a “renderingof the two-dimensional image.”

For illustrative purposes, a rendering of a 3D model or a rendering of a3D representation of the user can be generated by a 3D rendering engine552 accessing 3D model data 320, e.g., a 3D model. A 3D model caninclude parameters defining a 3D environment 200, e.g., a model of aroom, and parameters defining 3D objects, e.g., size, shape, andposition data for representations 351 of users or other virtual objects.A three-dimensional environment is a computing environment model that isbased on a three-dimensional coordinate system. Attributes of thethree-dimensional environment and three-dimensional objects in thethree-dimensional environment are based on components that arepositioned within a three-dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z). Eachcomponent can be a triangle or any other geometric shape. Each of thecomponents can have a position, e.g., a location in thethree-dimensional coordinate system, as well as an orientation, e.g., adirection in which a triangle is pointed. For instance, a group oftriangles can be used to generate a rendering of a three-dimensionalavatar of a user or a three-dimensional rendering of a three-dimensionalobject.

A three-dimensional environment is also referred to herein as an“immersive environment.” Model data or a three-dimensional model can beincluded in a communication data stream and the model data can define athree-dimensional environment. That three-dimensional environment can bebased on a three-dimensional coordinate system. When the renderingengine 552 generates a 3D rendering from a 3D model, that rendering isgenerated from a reference point in the environment, e.g., a perspectivehaving a position relative to the virtual environment. for illustrativepurposes, a reference point is also referred to herein as a virtualcamera 350. That camera can have a field of view which is used togenerate a rendering of a 3D environment or a 3D object based on theposition of the virtual camera 350. The rendering of a three-dimensionalobject in the three-dimensional environment is based on a position andorientation of the three-dimensional object and the position of thevirtual camera 350.

In some embodiments, two-dimensional images can be displayed within athree-dimensional environment. This can occur, for instance, when acommunication system receives a two-dimensional video stream of a user,but participants receiving that video stream are viewing a 3Denvironment with HMDs. This may cause the system to show the image ofthat user on as if they are appearing on a virtual television on thewall of the virtual environment. This is referred to herein as atwo-dimensional rendering of a user within a three-dimensionalenvironment. This can include the third user 10C shown in FIG. 2A as arendering 151C.

In some embodiments, a three-dimensional environment andthree-dimensional objects defined by a three-dimensional model can bedisplayed as a two-dimensional rendering. This can occur, for instance,when a communication session involves a user interface that showstwo-dimensional images, e.g., when Teams is in Grid Mode. While in thismode, the system may need to display images of users interacting in a 3Denvironment. In this instance, a 2D image of the 3D environment isdisplayed from a particular position, e.g., a virtual camera position,and that 2D image is displayed within one of the grids. This renderingcan be referred to herein as a two-dimensional rendering of athree-dimensional environment. To achieve a two-dimensional rendering ofa three-dimensional environment, model data defining a three-dimensionalenvironment can be projected using a transform. The transform cangenerate the rendering such that the width, height, and depth of athree-dimensional object can be expressed on a flat screen using vectorprojections from a model of the object to a point of view, e.g., avirtual camera position.

FIG. 4B illustrates two operating modes of a system and how eachoperating mode may change permissions for individuals participating in acommunication session. In the first operating mode, top half of FIG. 4B,the permissions can allow a system to use an image file to display a 2Dimage of a user when a representation of that user is not included in a3D model. In this case, the 3D model data is in a first state 320A wherea select user does not have a virtual object representing that userwithin a 3D environment 200. When the 3D model is in this state, wherethe select user does not have a virtual object representing that userwithin a 3D environment, the permission data 315 associated with thatuser are configured to allow the system, and other users, to accessimage data 310 for that user. This means that the system, and theclients of each remote user, can generate a rendering of that user usingthe image data 310 or the system can edit the image data 310.

When the system detects that the 3D model data is in a second state,e.g., model data 320B includes a virtual object 351C representing theselect user, the system modifies the permissions to restrict the use ofthe image data for that particular user. As shown, the permission data315 is modified to restrict a system from reading the image data 310 todisplay a 2D image of that particular user. In this operating mode, thepermissions are configured to restrict all users from accessing theimage data, and thus all clients are prevented from accessing ordisplaying the 2D image file.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate features of a system configured forpositioning a representation of a user within a 3D environment 200relative to shared content. These figures illustrate a top view of a 3Denvironment 200. FIG. 5A illustrates the scenario where avatars for afirst user 351A and a second user 351B are oriented to view sharedcontent within the 3D environment. They shared content may be displayedon a virtual object, such as a virtual display screen. When the systemdetects that a threshold number of users are looking at the sharedcontent, the system may generate an orientation for a third user havingan avatar enter the 3D environment. one example of this feature isillustrated in FIG. 5B. In this example, an avatar of a third user 351Cis added to the virtual environment. The avatar of the third user 351Cis directed towards the shared content in response to the systemdetecting that the other users have the shared content within theirfield of view. The system can also determine the geometries of eachperson's field of view and determine a position for the third user'savatar such that the third user's avatar does not block the field ofview for other users.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B illustrate features of a system configured forpositioning a representation of a user within a 3D environment 200relative to other users. FIG. 6A illustrates a scenario where avatarsfor a first user and a second user are oriented such that the users arelooking at each other within the virtual environment. Within aparticular team or a predetermined group, when the system determinesthat a threshold number of people are looking at each other. The systemcan Orient the avatar of a third user entering the environment such thatthe avatar is positioned to look at the other users. FIG. 6A shows anumber of avatars that have at least three users having other groupmembers within a field of view. When the system determines that athreshold number of avatars have other group members within a field ofview, as shown in FIG. 6B, the system can allow a new group member tojoin the virtual environment having a position and orientation thatallows that user to view other group members.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating aspects of a routine 700 for providingtransitions of a user interface arrangement from a display of atwo-dimensional image of a user to a rendering of a three-dimensionalrepresentation of the user while the user is participating in acommunication session. It should be understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art that the operations of the methods disclosed herein arenot necessarily presented in any particular order and that performanceof some or all of the operations in an alternative order is possible andis contemplated. The operations have been presented in the demonstratedorder for ease of description and illustration. Operations may be added,omitted, performed together, and/or performed simultaneously, withoutdeparting from the scope of the appended claims.

It should also be understood that the illustrated methods can start orend at any time and need not be performed in their entirety. Some or alloperations of the methods, and/or substantially equivalent operations,can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions includedon a computer-storage media, as defined herein. The term“computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used in thedescription and claims, is used expansively herein to include routines,applications, application modules, program modules, programs,components, data structures, algorithms, and the like. Computer-readableinstructions can be implemented on various system configurations,including single-processor or multiprocessor systems, minicomputers,mainframe computers, personal computers, hand-held computing devices,microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics, combinationsthereof, and the like. Although the example routine described below isoperating on a system, e.g., one or more computing devices, it can beappreciated that this routine can be performed on any computing systemwhich may include any number of computers working in concert to performthe operations disclosed herein.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations describedherein are implemented as a sequence of computer implemented acts orprogram modules running on a computing system such as those describedherein and/or as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuitmodules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter ofchoice dependent on the performance and other requirements of thecomputing system. Accordingly, the logical operations may be implementedin software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and anycombination thereof.

Additionally, the operations illustrated in FIG. 7 and the other FIGUREScan be implemented in association with the example user interfaces andsystems described herein. For instance, the various devices and/ormodules described herein can generate, transmit, receive, and/or displaydata associated with content of a communication session e.g., livecontent, broadcasted event, recorded content, etc. and/or a presentationUI that includes renderings of one or more participants of remotecomputing devices, avatars, channels, chat sessions, video streams,images, virtual objects, and/or applications associated with acommunication session.

The routine 700 includes an operation 701 where the system 100 displaysa user interface that comprises a rendering of a 2D image of aparticular user, also referred to herein as a “selected user.” The userinterface can include a number of other users that are displayed using2D images, which can include live video or still images, or the otherusers can be represented by avatars such as a rendering of a 3Drepresentation, such as an avatar.

At operation 703, the system can receive an input for causing a UItransition to remove the 2D rendering user and add a 3D rendering of theuser. An example of this transition is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, wherethe third user 10C is first displayed using a 2D image or video. Inresponse to the input, the 2D image is removed from the user interfaceand a 3 dimensional representation of the third user is displayed.

At operation 705, the system updates a 3D model to include arepresentation of the selected user with a determined position andorientation. In some configurations, the position and orientation may beset to a default or a landing area within the 3D model that ispredetermined by one or more policies. in some configurations, theposition and orientation of the representation of the selected user maybe determined based on a position of other people that are associatedwith the selected user. For instance, if a selected user is associatedwith a number of people, e.g., teammates or coworkers, that person maybe positioned with any predetermined distance of avatars of thoseteammates. The position and orientation of the representation of theselected user can also be based on a gaze direction of otherrepresentations in the three dimensional environment or the location ofshared content with the selected user. For instance, if an avatar of theselected user is entering a 3D environment and other users are lookingat shared content within the 3D environment, the representation of theselected user is positioned and oriented such that it is facing theshared content.

At operation 707, the system may change permissions in response toreceiving the input to transition the user interface. In response to theinput, the system may analyze the three dimensional model and determineif access permissions to a corresponding image of the selected usershould be restricted or allowed. If the selected user has an associatedrepresentation within the 3D environment, the system will conform thepermissions to restrict all users from accessing any 2D image file or 2Dimage steam of the selected user. However, if the selected user is notassociated with representation within the 3D environment, the systemwill conform the permissions to allow all users to access 2D image fileor 2D image steam of the selected user.

At operation 709, the system can modify the user interface to remove therendering of the 2D image of the selected user based on the permissions.In addition, the system can access the 3D model to display a renderingof a 3D representation of the selected user on the user interface. Therendering of the 3D representation can be based on the position andorientation information in the 3D model.

At operation 711, the system can receive an input to transition the userinterface to include the 2D image and remove the 3D representation of aselected user. In this particular example, the input is configured tocause the user interface transitions back from the user interface shownin FIG. 1B to the user interface shown in FIG. 1A.

At operation 713, the system changes permissions to allow access to the2D image file or the 2D image stream and respond to the input totransition the user interface to include the 2D image and remove the 3Drepresentation of a selected user.

At operation 715, the system can causes the transition of the userinterface to include the 2D image and remove the 3D representation of aselected user. In in response to the input, the system causes the userinterface to transition back from the user interface shown in FIG. 1B tothe user interface shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example environment 600 in which asystem 602 can implement the techniques disclosed herein. It should beappreciated that the above-described subject matter may be implementedas a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computingsystem, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readablestorage medium. The operations of the example methods are illustrated inindividual blocks and summarized with reference to those blocks. Themethods are illustrated as logical flows of blocks, each block of whichcan represent one or more operations that can be implemented inhardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context ofsoftware, the operations represent computer-executable instructionsstored on one or more computer-readable media that, when executed by oneor more processors, enable the one or more processors to perform therecited operations.

Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs,objects, modules, components, data structures, and the like that performparticular functions or implement particular abstract data types. Theorder in which the operations are described is not intended to beconstrued as a limitation, and any number of the described operationscan be executed in any order, combined in any order, subdivided intomultiple sub-operations, and/or executed in parallel to implement thedescribed processes. The described processes can be performed byresources associated with one or more device(s) such as one or moreinternal or external CPUs or GPUs, and/or one or more pieces of hardwarelogic such as field-programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”), digital signalprocessors (“DSPs”), or other types of accelerators.

All of the methods and processes described above may be embodied in, andfully automated via, software code modules executed by one or moregeneral purpose computers or processors. The code modules may be storedin any type of computer-readable storage medium or other computerstorage device, such as those described below. Some or all of themethods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computer hardware,such as that described below.

Any routine descriptions, elements or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode that include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or elements in the routine. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the examples describedherein in which elements or functions may be deleted, or executed out oforder from that shown or discussed, including substantiallysynchronously or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

In some implementations, a system 602 may function to collect, analyze,and share data that is displayed to users of a communication session604. As illustrated, the communication session 603 may be implementedbetween a number of client computing devices 606(1) through 606(N)(where N is a number having a value of two or greater) that areassociated with or are part of the system 602. The client computingdevices 606(1) through 606(N) enable users, also referred to asindividuals, to participate in the communication session 603.

In this example, the communication session 603 is hosted, over one ormore network(s) 608, by the system 602. That is, the system 602 canprovide a service that enables users of the client computing devices606(1) through 606(N) to participate in the communication session 603(e.g., via a live viewing and/or a recorded viewing). Consequently, a“participant” to the communication session 603 can comprise a userand/or a client computing device (e.g., multiple users may be in a roomparticipating in a communication session via the use of a single clientcomputing device), each of which can communicate with otherparticipants. As an alternative, the communication session 603 can behosted by one of the client computing devices 606(1) through 606(N)utilizing peer-to-peer technologies. The system 602 can also host chatconversations and other team collaboration functionality (e.g., as partof an application suite).

In some implementations, such chat conversations and other teamcollaboration functionality are considered external communicationsessions distinct from the communication session 603. A computing system602 that collects participant data in the communication session 603 maybe able to link to such external communication sessions. Therefore, thesystem may receive information, such as date, time, session particulars,and the like, that enables connectivity to such external communicationsessions. In one example, a chat conversation can be conducted inaccordance with the communication session 603. Additionally, the system602 may host the communication session 603, which includes at least aplurality of participants co-located at a meeting location, such as ameeting room or auditorium, or located in disparate locations.

In examples described herein, client computing devices 606(1) through606(N) participating in the communication session 603 are configured toreceive and render for display, on a user interface of a display screen,communication data. The communication data can comprise a collection ofvarious instances, or streams, of live content and/or recorded content.The collection of various instances, or streams, of live content and/orrecorded content may be provided by one or more cameras, such as videocameras. For example, an individual stream of live or recorded contentcan comprise media data associated with a video feed provided by a videocamera (e.g., audio and visual data that capture the appearance andspeech of a user participating in the communication session). In someimplementations, the video feeds may comprise such audio and visualdata, one or more still images, and/or one or more avatars. The one ormore still images may also comprise one or more avatars.

Another example of an individual stream of live or recorded content cancomprise media data that includes an avatar of a user participating inthe communication session along with audio data that captures the speechof the user. Yet another example of an individual stream of live orrecorded content can comprise media data that includes a file displayedon a display screen along with audio data that captures the speech of auser. Accordingly, the various streams of live or recorded contentwithin the communication data enable a remote meeting to be facilitatedbetween a group of people and the sharing of content within the group ofpeople. In some implementations, the various streams of live or recordedcontent within the communication data may originate from a plurality ofco-located video cameras, positioned in a space, such as a room, torecord or stream live a presentation that includes one or moreindividuals presenting and one or more individuals consuming presentedcontent.

A participant or attendee can view content of the communication session603 live as activity occurs, or alternatively, via a recording at alater time after the activity occurs. In the examples described herein,client computing devices 606(1) through 606(N) participating in thecommunication session 603 are configured to receive and render fordisplay, on a user interface of a display screen, communication data.The communication data can comprise a collection of various instances,or streams, of live and/or recorded content. For example, an individualstream of content can comprise media data associated with a video feed(e.g., audio and visual data that capture the appearance and speech of auser participating in the communication session). Another example of anindividual stream of content can comprise media data that includes anavatar of a user participating in the conference session along withaudio data that captures the speech of the user. Yet another example ofan individual stream of content can comprise media data that includes acontent item displayed on a display screen and/or audio data thatcaptures the speech of a user. Accordingly, the various streams ofcontent within the communication data enable a meeting or a broadcastpresentation to be facilitated amongst a group of people dispersedacross remote locations.

A participant or attendee to a communication session is a person that isin range of a camera, or other image and/or audio capture device suchthat actions and/or sounds of the person which are produced while theperson is viewing and/or listening to the content being shared via thecommunication session can be captured (e.g., recorded). For instance, aparticipant may be sitting in a crowd viewing the shared content live ata broadcast location where a stage presentation occurs. Or a participantmay be sitting in an office conference room viewing the shared contentof a communication session with other colleagues via a display screen.Even further, a participant may be sitting or standing in front of apersonal device (e.g., tablet, smartphone, computer, etc.) viewing theshared content of a communication session alone in their office or athome.

The system 602 of FIG. 8 includes device(s) 610. The device(s) 610and/or other components of the system 602 can include distributedcomputing resources that communicate with one another and/or with theclient computing devices 606(1) through 606(N) via the one or morenetwork(s) 608. In some examples, the system 602 may be an independentsystem that is tasked with managing aspects of one or more communicationsessions such as communication session 603. As an example, the system602 may be managed by entities such as SLACK, WEBEX, GOTOMEETING, GOOGLEHANGOUTS, etc.

Network(s) 608 may include, for example, public networks such as theInternet, private networks such as an institutional and/or personalintranet, or some combination of private and public networks. Network(s)608 may also include any type of wired and/or wireless network,including but not limited to local area networks (“LANs”), wide areanetworks (“WANs”), satellite networks, cable networks, Wi-Fi networks,WiMax networks, mobile communications networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, and soforth) or any combination thereof. Network(s) 608 may utilizecommunications protocols, including packet-based and/or datagram-basedprotocols such as Internet protocol (“IP”), transmission controlprotocol (“TCP”), user datagram protocol (“UDP”), or other types ofprotocols. Moreover, network(s) 608 may also include a number of devicesthat facilitate network communications and/or form a hardware basis forthe networks, such as switches, routers, gateways, access points,firewalls, base stations, repeaters, backbone devices, and the like.

In some examples, network(s) 608 may further include devices that enableconnection to a wireless network, such as a wireless access point(“WAP”). Examples support connectivity through WAPs that send andreceive data over various electromagnetic frequencies (e.g., radiofrequencies), including WAPs that support Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (“IEEE”) 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac and so forth), and other standards.

In various examples, device(s) 610 may include one or more computingdevices that operate in a cluster or other grouped configuration toshare resources, balance load, increase performance, provide fail-oversupport or redundancy, or for other purposes. For instance, device(s)610 may belong to a variety of classes of devices such as traditionalserver-type devices, desktop computer-type devices, and/or mobile-typedevices. Thus, although illustrated as a single type of device or aserver-type device, device(s) 610 may include a diverse variety ofdevice types and are not limited to a particular type of device.Device(s) 610 may represent, but are not limited to, server computers,desktop computers, web-server computers, personal computers, mobilecomputers, laptop computers, tablet computers, or any other sort ofcomputing device.

A client computing device (e.g., one of client computing device(s)606(1) through 606(N)) (each of which are also referred to herein as a“data processing system”) may belong to a variety of classes of devices,which may be the same as, or different from, device(s) 610, such astraditional client-type devices, desktop computer-type devices,mobile-type devices, special purpose-type devices, embedded-typedevices, and/or wearable-type devices. Thus, a client computing devicecan include, but is not limited to, a desktop computer, a game consoleand/or a gaming device, a tablet computer, a personal data assistant(“PDA”), a mobile phone/tablet hybrid, a laptop computer, atelecommunication device, a computer navigation type client computingdevice such as a satellite-based navigation system including a globalpositioning system (“GPS”) device, a wearable device, a virtual reality(“VR”) device, an augmented reality (“AR”) device, an implantedcomputing device, an automotive computer, a network-enabled television,a thin client, a terminal, an Internet of Things (“IoT”) device, a workstation, a media player, a personal video recorder (“PVR”), a set-topbox, a camera, an integrated component (e.g., a peripheral device) forinclusion in a computing device, an appliance, or any other sort ofcomputing device. Moreover, the client computing device may include acombination of the earlier listed examples of the client computingdevice such as, for example, desktop computer-type devices or amobile-type device in combination with a wearable device, etc.

Client computing device(s) 606(1) through 606(N) of the various classesand device types can represent any type of computing device having oneor more data processing unit(s) 692 operably connected tocomputer-readable media 694 such as via a bus 616, which in someinstances can include one or more of a system bus, a data bus, anaddress bus, a PCI bus, a Mini-PCI bus, and any variety of local,peripheral, and/or independent buses.

Executable instructions stored on computer-readable media 694 mayinclude, for example, an operating system 619, a client module 620, aprofile module 622, and other modules, programs, or applications thatare loadable and executable by data processing units(s) 692.

Client computing device(s) 606(1) through 606(N) may also include one ormore interface(s) 624 to enable communications between client computingdevice(s) 606(1) through 606(N) and other networked devices, such asdevice(s) 610, over network(s) 608. Such network interface(s) 624 mayinclude one or more network interface controllers (NICs) or other typesof transceiver devices to send and receive communications and/or dataover a network. Moreover, client computing device(s) 606(1) through606(N) can include input/output (“I/O”) interfaces (devices) 626 thatenable communications with input/output devices such as user inputdevices including peripheral input devices (e.g., a game controller, akeyboard, a mouse, a pen, a voice input device such as a microphone, avideo camera for obtaining and providing video feeds and/or stillimages, a touch input device, a gestural input device, and the like)and/or output devices including peripheral output devices (e.g., adisplay, a printer, audio speakers, a haptic output device, and thelike). FIG. 8 illustrates that client computing device 606(1) is in someway connected to a display device (e.g., a display screen 629(N)), whichcan display a UI according to the techniques described herein.

In the example environment 600 of FIG. 8 , client computing devices606(1) through 606(N) may use their respective client modules 620 toconnect with one another and/or other external device(s) in order toparticipate in the communication session 603, or in order to contributeactivity to a collaboration environment. For instance, a first user mayutilize a client computing device 606(1) to communicate with a seconduser of another client computing device 606(2). When executing clientmodules 620, the users may share data, which may cause the clientcomputing device 606(1) to connect to the system 602 and/or the otherclient computing devices 606(2) through 606(N) over the network(s) 608.

The client computing device(s) 606(1) through 606(N) may use theirrespective profile modules 622 to generate participant profiles (notshown in FIG. 8 ) and provide the participant profiles to other clientcomputing devices and/or to the device(s) 610 of the system 602. Aparticipant profile may include one or more of an identity of a user ora group of users (e.g., a name, a unique identifier (“ID”), etc.), userdata such as personal data, machine data such as location (e.g., an IPaddress, a room in a building, etc.) and technical capabilities, etc.Participant profiles may be utilized to register participants forcommunication sessions.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the device(s) 610 of the system 602 include aserver module 630 and an output module 632. In this example, the servermodule 630 is configured to receive, from individual client computingdevices such as client computing devices 606(1) through 606(N), mediastreams 634(1) through 634(N). As described above, media streams cancomprise a video feed (e.g., audio and visual data associated with auser), audio data which is to be output with a presentation of an avatarof a user (e.g., an audio only experience in which video data of theuser is not transmitted), text data (e.g., text messages), file dataand/or screen sharing data (e.g., a document, a slide deck, an image, avideo displayed on a display screen, etc.), and so forth. Thus, theserver module 630 is configured to receive a collection of various mediastreams 634(1) through 634(N) during a live viewing of the communicationsession 603 (the collection being referred to herein as “media data634”). In some scenarios, not all of the client computing devices thatparticipate in the communication session 603 provide a media stream. Forexample, a client computing device may only be a consuming, or a“listening”, device such that it only receives content associated withthe communication session 603 but does not provide any content to thecommunication session 603.

In various examples, the server module 630 can select aspects of themedia streams 634 that are to be shared with individual ones of theparticipating client computing devices 606(1) through 606(N).Consequently, the server module 630 may be configured to generatesession data 636 based on the streams 634 and/or pass the session data636 to the output module 632. Then, the output module 632 maycommunicate communication data 639 to the client computing devices(e.g., client computing devices 606(1) through 606(3) participating in alive viewing of the communication session). The communication data 639may include video, audio, and/or other content data, provided by theoutput module 632 based on content 650 associated with the output module632 and based on received session data 636. The content 650 can includethe streams 634 or other shared data, such as an image file, aspreadsheet file, a slide deck, a document, etc. The streams 634 caninclude a video component depicting images captured by an I/O device 626on each client computer.

As shown, the output module 632 transmits communication data 639(1) toclient computing device 606(1), and transmits communication data 639(2)to client computing device 606(2), and transmits communication data639(3) to client computing device 606(3), etc. The communication data639 transmitted to the client computing devices can be the same or canbe different (e.g., positioning of streams of content within a userinterface may vary from one device to the next).

In various implementations, the device(s) 610 and/or the client module620 can include GUI presentation module 640. The GUI presentation module640 may be configured to analyze communication data 639 that is fordelivery to one or more of the client computing devices 606.Specifically, the UI presentation module 640, at the device(s) 610and/or the client computing device 606, may analyze communication data639 to determine an appropriate manner for displaying video, image,and/or content on the display screen 629 of an associated clientcomputing device 606. In some implementations, the GUI presentationmodule 640 may provide video, image, and/or content to a presentationGUI 646 rendered on the display screen 629 of the associated clientcomputing device 606. The presentation GUI 646 may be caused to berendered on the display screen 629 by the GUI presentation module 640.The presentation GUI 646 may include the video, image, and/or contentanalyzed by the GUI presentation module 640.

In some implementations, the presentation GUI 646 may include aplurality of sections or grids that may render or comprise video, image,and/or content for display on the display screen 629. For example, afirst section of the presentation GUI 646 may include a video feed of apresenter or individual, a second section of the presentation GUI 646may include a video feed of an individual consuming meeting informationprovided by the presenter or individual. The GUI presentation module 640may populate the first and second sections of the presentation GUI 646in a manner that properly imitates an environment experience that thepresenter and the individual may be sharing.

In some implementations, the GUI presentation module 640 may enlarge orprovide a zoomed view of the individual represented by the video feed inorder to highlight a reaction, such as a facial feature, the individualhad to the presenter. In some implementations, the presentation GUI 646may include a video feed of a plurality of participants associated witha meeting, such as a general communication session. In otherimplementations, the presentation GUI 646 may be associated with achannel, such as a chat channel, enterprise Teams channel, or the like.Therefore, the presentation GUI 646 may be associated with an externalcommunication session that is different from the general communicationsession.

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram that shows example components of an exampledevice 700 (also referred to herein as a “computing device”) configuredto generate data for some of the user interfaces disclosed herein. Thedevice 700 may generate data that may include one or more sections thatmay render or comprise video, images, virtual objects, and/or contentfor display on the display screen 629. The device 700 may represent oneof the device(s) described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, thedevice 700 may represent one of the client computing devices 606.

As illustrated, the device 700 includes one or more data processingunit(s) 702, computer-readable media 704, and communication interface(s)706. The components of the device 700 are operatively connected, forexample, via a bus 709, which may include one or more of a system bus, adata bus, an address bus, a PCI bus, a Mini-PCI bus, and any variety oflocal, peripheral, and/or independent buses.

As utilized herein, data processing unit(s), such as the data processingunit(s) 702 and/or data processing unit(s) 692, may represent, forexample, a CPU-type data processing unit, a GPU-type data processingunit, a field-programmable gate array (“FPGA”), another class of DSP, orother hardware logic components that may, in some instances, be drivenby a CPU. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types ofhardware logic components that may be utilized includeApplication-Specific Integrated Circuits (“ASICs”), Application-SpecificStandard Products (“ASSPs”), System-on-a-Chip Systems (“SOCs”), ComplexProgrammable Logic Devices (“CPLDs”), etc.

As utilized herein, computer-readable media, such as computer-readablemedia 704 and computer-readable media 694, may store instructionsexecutable by the data processing unit(s). The computer-readable mediamay also store instructions executable by external data processing unitssuch as by an external CPU, an external GPU, and/or executable by anexternal accelerator, such as an FPGA type accelerator, a DSP typeaccelerator, or any other internal or external accelerator. In variousexamples, at least one CPU, GPU, and/or accelerator is incorporated in acomputing device, while in some examples one or more of a CPU, GPU,and/or accelerator is external to a computing device.

Computer-readable media, which might also be referred to herein as acomputer-readable medium, may include computer storage media and/orcommunication media. Computer storage media may include one or more ofvolatile memory, nonvolatile memory, and/or other persistent and/orauxiliary computer storage media, removable and non-removable computerstorage media implemented in any method or technology for storage ofinformation such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Thus, computer storage media includestangible and/or physical forms of media included in a device and/orhardware component that is part of a device or external to a device,including but not limited to random access memory (“RAM”), staticrandom-access memory (“SRAM”), dynamic random-access memory (“DRAM”),phase change memory (“PCM”), read-only memory (“ROM”), erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory, compact discread-only memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disks (“DVDs”), opticalcards or other optical storage media, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage, magnetic cards or other magnetic storage devicesor media, solid-state memory devices, storage arrays, network attachedstorage, storage area networks, hosted computer storage or any otherstorage memory, storage device, and/or storage medium that can be usedto store and maintain information for access by a computing device. Thecomputer storage media can also be referred to herein ascomputer-readable storage media, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media, non-transitory computer-readable medium, or computerstorage medium.

In contrast to computer storage media, communication media may embodycomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave, or othertransmission mechanism. As defined herein, computer storage media doesnot include communication media. That is, computer storage media doesnot include communications media consisting solely of a modulated datasignal, a carrier wave, or a propagated signal, per se.

Communication interface(s) 706 may represent, for example, networkinterface controllers (“NICs”) or other types of transceiver devices tosend and receive communications over a network. Furthermore, thecommunication interface(s) 706 may include one or more video camerasand/or audio devices 722 to enable generation of video feeds and/orstill images, and so forth.

In the illustrated example, computer-readable media 704 includes a datastore 708. In some examples, the data store 708 includes data storagesuch as a database, data warehouse, or other type of structured orunstructured data storage. In some examples, the data store 708 includesa corpus and/or a relational database with one or more tables, indices,stored procedures, and so forth to enable data access including one ormore of hypertext markup language (“HTML”) tables, resource descriptionframework (“RDF”) tables, web ontology language (“OWL”) tables, and/orextensible markup language (“XML”) tables, for example.

The data store 708 may store data for the operations of processes,applications, components, and/or modules stored in computer-readablemedia 704 and/or executed by data processing unit(s) 702 and/oraccelerator(s). For instance, in some examples, the data store 708 maystore session data 710 (e.g., session data 636 as shown in FIG. 8 ),profile data 712 (e.g., associated with a participant profile), and/orother data. The session data 710 can include a total number ofparticipants (e.g., users and/or client computing devices) in acommunication session, activity that occurs in the communicationsession, a list of invitees to the communication session, and/or otherdata related to when and how the communication session is conducted orhosted. The data store 708 may also include contextual data 714, such asthe content that includes video, audio, or other content for renderingand display on one or more of the display screens 629. Hardware data 711can define aspects of any device, such as a number of display screens ofa computer. The contextual data 714 can define any type of activity orstatus related to the individual users 10A-10L each associated withindividual video streams of a plurality of video streams 634. Forinstance, the contextual data can define a person's level in anorganization, how each person's level relates to the level of others, aperformance level of a person, or any other activity or statusinformation that can be used to determine a position for a rendering ofa person within a virtual environment. This contextual information canalso be fed into any of the models to help bring emphasis to keywordsspoken by a person at a specific level, highlight a UI when a backgroundsound of a person at a certain level is detected, or change a sentimentdisplay in a particular way when a person at a certain level is detectedhas a certain sentiment.

Alternately, some or all of the above-referenced data can be stored onseparate memories 716 on board one or more data processing unit(s) 702such as a memory on board a CPU-type processor, a GPU-type processor, anFPGA-type accelerator, a DSP-type accelerator, and/or anotheraccelerator. In this example, the computer-readable media 704 alsoincludes an operating system 718 and application programminginterface(s) 710 (APIs) configured to expose the functionality and thedata of the device 700 to other devices. Additionally, thecomputer-readable media 704 includes one or more modules such as theserver module 730, the output module 732, and the GUI presentationmodule 740, although the number of illustrated modules is just anexample, and the number may vary. That is, functionality describedherein in association with the illustrated modules may be performed by afewer number of modules or a larger number of modules on one device orspread across multiple devices.

The following Example Clauses are to supplement the present disclosure.

Example Clause A. A method for transitioning a user interface (101) froma rendering of a two-dimensional image (151C) of a user (10C) to arendering of a three-dimensional representation (251C) of the user(10C), a transition as shown in FIG. 1A to FIG. 1B, while the user (10C)is participating in a communication session (604), the method configuredfor execution on a system (100), the method comprising: causing adisplay of the user interface (101) comprising the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image (151C) of the user (10C), wherein the rendering ofthe two-dimensional image (151C) is from a two-dimensional image file(310), wherein the user interface (101) concurrently displays therendering of the two-dimensional image (151C) of the user (10C) withrenderings of other users (10A-10B) participating in the communicationsession (604) with the user (10C); this is included in FIG. 1A or 2A,the user starts in Gallery Mode, which is defined as “rendering of thetwo-dimensional image. Other users can be in either gallery or immersivemode. Gallery mode can be on a wall in a VR room or in standard gridmode; receiving an input for causing a transition of the display of therendering of the two-dimensional image (151C) of the user (10C) to therendering of the three-dimensional representation (251C) of the user(10C), wherein the input causes the system to access a three-dimensionalmodel (320) defining a position and orientation of the three-dimensionalrepresentation (251C) of the user (10C) within a three-dimensionalenvironment (200); This input is designed to cause the transition fromthe gallery mode to the immersive mode, the input causes the system toaccess a 3D model; and in response to the input for causing thetransition of the display of the rendering of the two-dimensional imageof the user to the rendering of the three-dimensional representation ofthe user, causing a modification of the user interface arrangement toremove the rendering of the two-dimensional image of the user (151) andadd the display of the three-dimensional representation of the user(251C) in a rendering of the three-dimensional environment (200) usingthe position and the orientation defined in the three-dimensional model(320), this removes the 2D image and display the 3D model of the user ina 3D environment, e.g., a room. The 3D representation uses the 3D Modeldata to determine a position and direction of the user in the 3Denvironment.

Example Clause B. This embodiment is to transition from 3D to 2D using asingle device, a transition as shown in FIG. 1B to FIG. 1A, a method fortransitioning a user interface (101) from a rendering of a rendering ofa three-dimensional representation (251C) of the user (10C) to atwo-dimensional image (151C) of a user (10C) while the user (10C) isparticipating in a communication session (604), the method configuredfor execution on a system (100), the method comprising: causing adisplay of the user interface (101) comprising the rendering of thethree-dimensional representation (251C) of the user (10C), wherein theuser interface (101) concurrently displays the three-dimensionalrepresentation (251C) of the user (10C) with renderings of other users(10A-10B) participating in the communication session (604) with the user(10C), the renderings of other users can be in either 2D images or 3Drepresentations; this feature is included in FIG. 1A or 2A, the userstarts in Immersive Mode, which is defined as rendering of the 3Drenderings, the other users can be in either gallery or immersive mode;receiving an input for causing a transition of the display of therendering of the three-dimensional representation (251C) of the user(10C) to the two-dimensional image (151C) of the user (10C), this inputis designed to cause the transition from the immersive mode to thegallery mode, the input causes the system to move from accessing a 3Dmodel to accessing a 2D image file; and in response to the input forcausing the transition of the display of the rendering ofthree-dimensional representation (251C) of the user (10C) to thetwo-dimensional image (151C) of the user (10C), causing a modificationof the user interface arrangement to remove the rendering of thethree-dimensional representation (251C) of the user (10C) and add thedisplay of the two-dimensional image (151C) of the user (10C).

Example Clause C. A method for transitioning a user interface (101), asshown in the transition from FIG. 3A to FIG. 3B, in coordination with achange of a system operating mode from a first operating mode where auser (10C) is displayed to other users (10A-10B, 10D-10E) of acommunication session as a rendering of a 2D image (151C) to a secondoperating mode where the user is displayed to other users of thecommunication session as a rendering of a 3D representation (251C) ofthe user (10C) while the user (10C) is participating in thecommunication session (604), the method configured for execution on asystem (100), the method comprising:

causing, in response to being in the first operating mode, a display ofthe user interface (101) on a display device of a computer (11C)associated with the user (10C), the user interface (101) comprisingrenderings of 2D images (151A-151B) of a first set of users (10A-10B) ofthe other users participating in the communication session (604) withthe user (10C), the user interface (101) further comprising renderingsof 3D representations (251A-251B) of a second set of users (10D-10E) ofthe other users participating in the communication session (604) withthe user (10C), wherein a first viewing perspective of the renderings of3D representations (251A-251B) is based on a position of virtual objects(351A-351B) of the 3D representations (251A-251B) within a 3Denvironment (200) relative to a position of a virtual camera (350); inFIG. 3A, the third user Starts in Gallery Mode, where the 3D environmentis a smaller window showing the front of the avatars, receiving an inputfor causing the change of the system operating mode from the firstoperating mode where the user (10C) is displayed to the other users(10A-10B, 10D-10E) of the communication session as the rendering of the2D image (151C) to the second operating mode where the user is displayedto the other users of the communication session as the rendering of the3D representation (251C) of the user (10C) while the user (10C) isparticipating in a communication session (604); as shown in FIG. 1A andFIG. 1B, and in response to the input for causing the change of thesystem operating mode from the first operating mode to the secondoperating mode, cause a modification of the user interface (101) toenlarge the rendering of the 3D environment (200) relative to a firstsize of the rendering of the 3D environment (200) while in the firstoperating mode, wherein a viewing perspective of the 3D environment(200) for the user (10C) is based on a location and an orientation of avirtual object (351C) associated with the 3D representation (251C) ofthe user (10C), wherein a second viewing perspective of the 3Drepresentations (251A-251B) is based on the location and the orientationof the virtual object (351C) associated with the 3D representation(251C) of the user (10C) relative to the position of the virtual objects(351A-351B) of the 3D representations (251A-251B) within a 3Denvironment (200), which show the back of the avatars in this example,wherein the second operating mode causes the user interface to includethe 2D images (151A-151B) of a first set of users (10A-10B) in a virtualobject (275) formed as a virtual display screen positioned with thevirtual environment (200).

Example Clause D. A method for transitioning a user interface (101), asshown in the transition from FIG. 3B to FIG. 3A, in coordination with achange of a system operating mode from a second operating mode where theuser is displayed to other users of the communication session as arendering of a 3D representation (251C) of a user (10C), FIG. 1B, whilethe user (10C) is participating in the communication session (604) to afirst operating mode where the user (10C) is displayed to other users(10A-10B, 10D-10E) of a communication session as a rendering of a 2Dimage (151C), FIG. 1A, the method configured for execution on a system(100), the method comprising: causing, in response to being in thesecond operating mode, as shown in FIG. 3B, a display of the userinterface (101) on a display device of a computer (11C) associated withthe user (10C), the user interface (101) comprising a first size of arendering of a 3D environment (200), wherein a first viewing perspectiveof the 3D environment (200) for the user (10C) is based on a locationand an orientation of a virtual object (351C) associated with the 3Drepresentation (251C) of the user (10C), e.g., where the other avatarsare positioned relative to the user's avatar, wherein the secondoperating mode causes the user interface to include the 2D images(151A-151B) of a first set of users (10A-10B) in a virtual object (275)formed as a virtual display screen positioned with the virtualenvironment (200). receiving an input for causing the change of thesystem operating mode from the the second operating mode where the useris displayed to the other users of the communication session as therendering of the 3D representation (251C) of the user (10C), FIG. 1B,while the user (10C) is participating in a communication session (604)to the first operating mode where the user (10C) is displayed to theother users (10A-10B, 10D-10E) of the communication session as therendering of the 2D image (151C) as shown in FIG. 1A; and in response tothe input for causing the change of the system operating mode from thesecond operating mode to the first operating mode, cause a modificationof the user interface (101) to reduce the rendering of a 3D environment(200) from the first size, while in the first operating mode, the userinterface (101) comprising renderings of 3D representations (251A-251B)of a second set of users (10D-10E) of the other users participating inthe communication session (604) with the user (10C), wherein a secondviewing perspective of the renderings of 3D representations (251A-251B)is based on a position of virtual objects (351A-351B) of the 3Drepresentations (251A-251B) within a 3D environment (200) relative to aposition of a virtual camera (350), wherein the first operating modecauses the 2D images (151A-151B) of the first set of users (10A-10B) tobe displayed without the display of the virtual object (275).

Example Clause E. The method of any of the Example Clauses, wherein theinput for causing the transition includes input data indicating that theuser is interacting with a computing device having a keyboard and mouse,wherein permission data is modified to allow the transition based on adetection of the keyboard and mouse in communication of a clientcomputing device associated with the user (10C), wherein the system isconfigured to only allow the transition of the user interface inresponse to determining that the permission data allows the transitionbased on the detection of the keyboard and mouse in communication withthe client computing device.

Example Clause F. The method of any of the Example Clauses, wherein theinput for causing the transition includes input data indicating that theuser is interacting with a desktop computing device having a keyboard,wherein permission data is modified to allow the transition based on adetection of the keyboard in communication of the desktop computingdevice associated with the user (10C), wherein the system is configuredto only allow the transition of the user interface in response todetermining that the permission data allows the transition based on thedetection of the keyboard in communication with the desktop computingdevice associated with the user, wherein the transition of the userinterface is only allowed in response to a detection that the user hasmaintained use of the desktop computing device having the keyboard.

Example Clause G. The method of any of the Example Clauses, wherein theinput for causing the transition includes input data indicating that theuser is interacting with a computer that is in the form of ahead-mounted display device for displaying augmented reality or virtualreality computing environments, wherein the system is configured to onlyallow the transition of the user interface in response to determiningthat the permission data allows the transition based on the detectionthat the user has maintained use of the computer that is in the form ofa head-mounted display device.

In closing, although the various configurations have been described inlanguage specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, itis to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appendedrepresentations is not necessarily limited to the specific features oracts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claimed subject matter.

I/We claim:
 1. A method for transitioning a user interface from arendering of a two-dimensional image of a user to a rendering of athree-dimensional representation of the user while the user isparticipating in a communication session, the method configured forexecution on a system, the method comprising: causing a display of theuser interface comprising the rendering of the two-dimensional image ofthe user, wherein the rendering of the two-dimensional image is from atwo-dimensional image file, wherein the user interface concurrentlydisplays the rendering of the two-dimensional image of the user withrenderings of other users participating in the communication sessionwith the user; receiving an input for causing a transition of thedisplay of the rendering of the two-dimensional image of the user to therendering of the three-dimensional representation of the user, whereinthe input causes the system to access a three-dimensional model defininga position and orientation of the three-dimensional representation ofthe user within a three-dimensional environment; and in response to theinput for causing the transition of the display of the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image of the user to the rendering of thethree-dimensional representation of the user, causing a modification ofthe user interface arrangement to remove the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image of the user and add the display of thethree-dimensional representation of the user in a rendering of thethree-dimensional environment using the position and the orientationdefined in the three-dimensional model.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the input for causing the transition includes input dataindicating that the user is interacting with a computing device having akeyboard and mouse, wherein permission data is modified to allow thetransition based on a detection of the keyboard and mouse incommunication of a client computing device associated with the user,wherein the system is configured to only allow the transition of theuser interface in response to determining that the permission dataallows the transition based on the detection of the keyboard and mousein communication with the client computing device.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the input for causing the transition includes inputdata indicating that the user is interacting with a desktop computingdevice having a keyboard, wherein permission data is modified to allowthe transition based on a detection of the keyboard in communication ofthe desktop computing device associated with the user, wherein thesystem is configured to only allow the transition of the user interfacein response to determining that the permission data allows thetransition based on the detection of the keyboard in communication withthe desktop computing device associated with the user.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the position and orientation of the three-dimensionalrepresentation is configured to provide a display of the representationsuch that the representation is appearing to look at a rendering ofshared content in response to determining that a threshold number ofrepresentations of other users participating in the communicationsession are positioned to appear to be looking at the rendering of theshared content.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the position andorientation of the three-dimensional representation is configured toprovide a display of the representation such that the representation isappearing to look at the representations of other users participating inthe communication session, in response to determining that a thresholdnumber of representations of other users participating in thecommunication session are positioned and oriented to appear to belooking at one another.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the input forcausing the transition includes input data indicating that the user hasput on a head-mounted display device for use in the communicationsession, wherein the input data is generated from a motion sensormounted to the head-mounted display device, the sensor detectingmovement of the user indicating that the user has put on a head-mounteddisplay device.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the input for causingthe transition includes input data indicating a predetermined devicetype, wherein permission data is modified to allow the transition basedon a detection of the predetermined device type being a desktopcomputing device, wherein the system is configured to only allow thetransition of the user interface in response to determining that thepermission data allows the transition based on the detection of thedetection of the predetermined device type.
 8. A system fortransitioning a user interface from a rendering of a two-dimensionalimage of a user to a rendering of a three-dimensional representation ofthe user while the user is participating in a communication session, thesystem comprising: one or more processing units; and a computer-readablestorage medium having encoded thereon computer-executable instructionsto cause the one or more processing units to perform a methodcomprising: causing a display of the user interface comprising therendering of the two-dimensional image of the user, wherein therendering of the two-dimensional image is from a two-dimensional imagefile, wherein the user interface concurrently displays the rendering ofthe two-dimensional image of the user with renderings of other usersparticipating in the communication session with the user; receiving aninput for causing a transition of the display of the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image of the user to the rendering of thethree-dimensional representation of the user, wherein the input causesthe system to access a three-dimensional model defining a position andorientation of the three-dimensional representation of the user within athree-dimensional environment; and in response to the input for causingthe transition of the display of the rendering of the two-dimensionalimage of the user to the rendering of the three-dimensionalrepresentation of the user, causing a modification of the user interfacearrangement to remove the rendering of the two-dimensional image of theuser and add the display of the three-dimensional representation of theuser in a rendering of the three-dimensional environment using theposition and the orientation defined in the three-dimensional model. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the input for causing the transitionincludes input data indicating that the user is interacting with acomputing device having a keyboard and mouse, wherein permission data ismodified to allow the transition based on a detection of the keyboardand mouse in communication of a client computing device associated withthe user, wherein the system is configured to only allow the transitionof the user interface in response to determining that the permissiondata allows the transition based on the detection of the keyboard andmouse in communication with the client computing device.
 10. The systemof claim 8, wherein the input for causing the transition includes inputdata indicating that the user is interacting with a computing devicehaving a keyboard, wherein permission data is modified to allow thetransition based on a detection of the keyboard in communication of aclient computing device associated with the user, wherein the system isconfigured to only allow the transition of the user interface inresponse to determining that the permission data allows the transitionbased on the detection of the keyboard in communication with the clientcomputing device associated with the user.
 11. The system of claim 8,wherein the position and orientation of the three-dimensionalrepresentation is configured to provide a display of the representationsuch that the representation is appearing to look at a rendering ofshared content in response to determining that a threshold number ofrepresentations of other users participating in the communicationsession are positioned to appear to be looking at the rendering of theshared content.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the position andorientation of the three-dimensional representation is configured toprovide a display of the representation such that the representation isappearing to look at the representations of other users participating inthe communication session, in response to determining that a thresholdnumber of representations of other users participating in thecommunication session are positioned and oriented to appear to belooking at one another.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the input forcausing the transition includes input data indicating that the user hasput on a head-mounted display device for use in the communicationsession, wherein the input data is generated from a motion sensormounted to the head-mounted display device, the sensor detectingmovement of the user indicating that the user has put on a head-mounteddisplay device.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the input for causingthe transition includes input data indicating a predetermined devicetype, wherein permission data is modified to allow the transition basedon a detection of the predetermined device type being a desktopcomputing device, wherein the system is configured to only allow thetransition of the user interface in response to determining that thepermission data allows the transition based on the detection of thedetection of the predetermined device type.
 15. A computer-readablestorage medium having encoded thereon computer-executable instructionsto cause one or more processing units of a system to perform a methodfor transitioning a user interface from a rendering of a two-dimensionalimage of a user to a rendering of a three-dimensional representation ofthe user while the user is participating in a communication session, themethod comprising: causing a display of the user interface comprisingthe rendering of the two-dimensional image of the user, wherein therendering of the two-dimensional image is from a two-dimensional imagefile, wherein the user interface concurrently displays the rendering ofthe two-dimensional image of the user with renderings of other usersparticipating in the communication session with the user; receiving aninput for causing a transition of the display of the rendering of thetwo-dimensional image of the user to the rendering of thethree-dimensional representation of the user, wherein the input causesthe system to access a three-dimensional model defining a position andorientation of the three-dimensional representation of the user within athree-dimensional environment; and in response to the input for causingthe transition of the display of the rendering of the two-dimensionalimage of the user to the rendering of the three-dimensionalrepresentation of the user, causing a modification of the user interfacearrangement to remove the rendering of the two-dimensional image of theuser and add the display of the three-dimensional representation of theuser in a rendering of the three-dimensional environment using theposition and the orientation defined in the three-dimensional model. 16.The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the input forcausing the transition includes input data indicating that the user isinteracting with a computing device having a keyboard and mouse, whereinpermission data is modified to allow the transition based on a detectionof the keyboard and mouse in communication of a client computing deviceassociated with the user, wherein the system is configured to only allowthe transition of the user interface in response to determining that thepermission data allows the transition based on the detection of thekeyboard and mouse in communication with the client computing device.17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the inputfor causing the transition includes input data indicating that the useris interacting with a computing device having a keyboard, whereinpermission data is modified to allow the transition based on a detectionof the keyboard in communication of a client computing device associatedwith the user, wherein the system is configured to only allow thetransition of the user interface in response to determining that thepermission data allows the transition based on the detection of thekeyboard in communication with the client computing device associatedwith the user.
 18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein the position and orientation of the three-dimensionalrepresentation is configured to provide a display of the representationsuch that the representation is appearing to look at a rendering ofshared content in response to determining that a threshold number ofrepresentations of other users participating in the communicationsession are positioned to appear to be looking at the rendering of theshared content.
 19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein the position and orientation of the three-dimensionalrepresentation is configured to provide a display of the representationsuch that the representation is appearing to look at the representationsof other users participating in the communication session, in responseto determining that a threshold number of representations of other usersparticipating in the communication session are positioned and orientedto appear to be looking at one another.
 20. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 15, wherein the input for causing the transitionincludes input data indicating that the user has put on a head-mounteddisplay device for use in the communication session, wherein the inputdata is generated from a motion sensor mounted to the head-mounteddisplay device, the sensor detecting movement of the user indicatingthat the user has put on a head-mounted display device.